French police fire teargas to disperse climate protest

Desdemona Despair

29 November 2015 (Al Jazeera) – Police have fired teargas and used pepper spray to disperse a group of anti-global warming activists who marched in Paris in defiance of a recent ban on public demonstrations, a day before the start of a key UN summit on climate change in France’s capital.

The tough response by riot police came on Sunday after a group of mostly masked protesters took to the streets to call on world leaders to take action towards curbing man-made emissions.

On Monday, more than 140 heads of state will converge in Paris to broker a deal to limit emissions.

Earlier in the day, in a bid to circumvent security measures implemented after the November 13 attacks claimed by Daesh/ISIL that took 130 lives, thousands of shoes were placed in the city’s sprawling central plaza to represent citizens urging a climate agreement.

Organisers of the display said that the Vatican donated a pair of shoes bearing the name of Pope Francis.

Hundreds of people also formed human chains in the late morning, interlinking arms and hands along the sidewalks between the central Place de la Republique and the Bataclan concert hall, where nearly 100 people were killed in one of the attacks.

“Together with the hundreds of thousands who will take to the streets around the world this weekend, the pope is sending a powerful signal that leaders arriving for the Paris summit simply must not ignore,” organiser Emma Ruby-Sachs said in a statement.

Four faith organisations turned over a petition on Saturday bearing 1.8 million signatures calling for leaders to adopt a fair deal that would also help poorer countries adapt to a changing climate.

Environmental organisation Greenpeace also floated a hot air balloon that said, “rise up for renewables”. [more]

French police fire teargas to disperse climate protest